"Hey? Where's your head drifted off to?" a snap of his fingers and an all too familiar voice roused you from your drifting thoughts. You blinked, cheeks flushing ever so slightly at the callout. "Did you even hear what I had to say?" Zandik tilted his head, clicking his tongue irritably as he gave your shoulder the slightest shove. Your stomach fluttered unexpectedly. To be truthful, no; you hadn't been listening. You were too preoccupied with how his voice sounded rather than what it was actually saying. You ran a hand through your hair and leaned back against the tree you two were propped under, letting out a small sigh. "Sorry. Mind- mind repeating what you were talking about?"

He stifled an irritable hiss, instead folding his arms and lidding his eyes, giving you that generic look he usually gave a incompetent classmate. "Columbina partnered up with me. Willingly. Like, she was the first person to approach me after Sage Sharnama mentioned you needed a partner for a project." An ugly feeling twisted in your stomach at the mention of that name but you didn't let it show on your face. You weren't exactly aware of this Columbina's presence prior to a few weeks ago - before she'd joined yours and Zandik's Darshan and indirectly ruined any chance of a relationship you had hoped for with your beloved childhood friend. It felt for the oncoming days that every word that left Zandik's mouth was just the unfathomably annoying mutter of her name. I mean, you couldn't blame him; smart, pretty, and passing while in more than one Darshan? The time you heard Zandik compliment her intelligence, you immediately had your suspicions. Zandik never complimented anyone. It only took a short while for Zandik to come clean and tell you he liked her. Hatred for her couldn't help but pile up. You'd had feelings for Zandik from the start of your friendship and she'd come along and snagged it away in the blink of an eye, and even worse, she did it effortlessly. "I haven't accepted her partnership yet though, obviously," he sighed, leaning back against the tree and squinting up at the bright sky from under the shade. "Still need to think things over. Mm, what about you? Chosen anyone yet?"